Reviews by Trinity

Order by: Date, A–Z

• 
  20: 30: 40 (2004)

  Review preview for 20: 30: 40

  A film of refreshingly non-intertwining stories and nice characterisation.

  Three women, three stages in life, one city.
• 
  93 (2008)

  Review preview for 93

  You don't see much but you are left to imagine and wonder.

  A cab driver and his dispatcher converse, but each seems to be keeping secrets.
• 
  Australian Rules (2002)

  Review preview for Australian Rules

  What makes the film work is the incredibly earnest acting of the main players.

  Racial tension hides beneath the surface of a tidy Australian fishing town.
• 
  After The Day Before (2004)

  Review preview for After The Day Before

  A well-executed tale of paranoia and insularity.

  Rural life turns out to be anything but idyllic.
• 
  An American Love Story (1998)

  Review preview for An American Love Story

  A remarkably sensitive, three-dimensional portrait.

  Documentary about an inter-racial relationship.
• 
  Bangkok Dangerous (2000)

  Review preview for Bangkok Dangerous

  The Pang Brothers lay claim to the throne of those other action thriller maestro siblings, the Wachowskis.

  A deaf mute gunman tries to escape the deadly Bangkok underground.
• 
  Bashkim (2001)

  Review preview for Bashkim

  Strangely disjointed.

  A young Kosovan kick boxer and his family try to explain his rage and frustration.
• 
  Black Box Shorts 3: Phenomena In Flux (2009)

  Review preview for Black Box Shorts 3: Phenomena In Flux

  Overall there are some real finds.

  Showcase of abstract shorts which aim to break new ground in cinematic representation.
• 
  The Blair Witch Project (1998)

  Review preview for The Blair Witch Project

  Although the film is nowhere near as terrifying as it's made out to be, its shunning of shock tactics in favour of distant sound effects and creepy environments creates a psychological terror which is far more disturbing.

  Handheld, hyped-up horror.
• 
  Black Tape (2002)

  Review preview for Black Tape

  the subject matter is powerful, although the relationship between the young daughter of a Kurdish rebel and her army officer captor/husband/torturer could have been explored in more depth.

  A tortured relationship is captured on camera.
• 
  Capturing The Friedmans (2002)

  Review preview for Capturing The Friedmans

  A horrifying, endearing, contradictory, moving masterpiece.

  A documentary charting the implosion of a family after a child sex scandal.
• 
  Cries And Whispers (1972)

  An exploration of the relationship between three sisters and their maid.
• 
  Chain Camera (2001)

  Review preview for Chain Camera

  There's no doubt that this is a well-made documentary, but it feels like there's been outside tampering.

  High school life seen through the eyes of 16 student videologues.
• 
  The Chimp (2001)

  Review preview for The Chimp

  Abdkalykov's attention to detail, from watching bugs crawl across floors, to the endless blue of the open sky mark out the qualities of a true visual artist.

  A teenage boy confronts adulthood as he waits to join the army.
• 
  Chi Girl (1999)

  Review preview for Chi Girl

  Strangely compelling and scarily familiar.

  Mockumentary about a guy a girl, her ex and his camera.
• 
  The Clay Bird (2002)

  Review preview for The Clay Bird

  Filled with great splendour and majesty.

  Life as a Muslim seen through the eyes of Bangledeshis on the verge of civil war.
• 
  Company (2002)

  Gangs of Mumbai, Bollywood style.
• 
  The Devil's Backbone (2001)

  Review preview for The Devil's Backbone

  The film takes standard ingredients of a good horror movie - the sinister setting, the horrible crime, the ghostly presence, the newcomer - and uses a surprisingly gore-free, old-fashioned way of scaring the audience.

  Ghosts haunt an isolated orphanage during the last year of the Spanish Civil War.
• 
  Deserted Station (2002)

  Review preview for Deserted Station

  The most successful part of the film is its simplicity.

  Story about a couple stuck in the desert evolves into a modern parable.
• 
  Europa (1991)

  Review preview for Europa

  Defies convention.

  A German-American returns to the land of his forbears to help with the reconstruction after the Second World War.
• 
  Everything Put Together (2000)

  Review preview for Everything Put Together

  An intriguing film, right up to the end.

  A woman's life begins to unravel after her baby dies.
• 
  Elkland (2009)

  Review preview for Elkland

  Where it succeeds is in its blend of dark humour with tragic circumstances.

  The prodigal son returns to bury his dead father in a black as night tragi-comedy featuring a friendly elk.
• 
  Eroica (2003)

  Review preview for Eroica

  The decision to concentrate on the music is both a blessing and a curse.

  The birth of Romance.
• 
  Eureka (2000)

  Review preview for Eureka

  Beautiful in its simplicity and utterly moving.

  All aboard the magical mystery bus.
• 
  The Eye Of The Day (2001)

  Documentary about an Indonesian family, trying to survey the politically turbulent times.
• 
  From The Edge Of The City (1998)

  Review preview for From The Edge Of The City

  The film feels like a music video, starting with a pumping club beat over fast-paced visuals.

  Story of marginalised teens in Athens.
• 
  The Five Senses (1999)

  Review preview for The Five Senses

  Even though the film is immaculately shot and has an outstanding cast, there's nothing really at the heart of the film for the audience to connect with.

  Ensemble piece as characters' lives cross after the disappearance of a toddler.
• 
  Friends Have Reasons (2000)

  Review preview for Friends Have Reasons

  The dialogue-driven, yet simplistic structure means the film appears too long for its subject.

  A loan undermines three friends relationship.
• 
  Gas Attack (2001)

  Review preview for Gas Attack

  A powerful piece of drama, which is all too close to real life.

  Something unthinkable happens in Glasgow.
• 
  Groove (1999)

  Review preview for Groove

  An immensely likeable and enjoyable film.

  Relationships are formed and broken at a San Francisco rave.
• 
  Herr Zwilling Und Frau Zuckermann (1999)

  Documentary about two Jews living in Austria, in the shadow of the past.
• He Said, She Said (1991)

  A love story told from both sides.
• 
  The Hurt Locker (2008)

  Review preview for The Hurt Locker

  An unrelenting, absolutely riveting and often unflattering portrait of frontline action through the eyes of brave people doing their best to survive.

  An elite bomb disposal unit struggles to function in the heart of the Iraq war.
• 
  I'll Sleep When I'm Dead (2003)

  Review preview for I'll Sleep When I'm Dead

  Owen is fine when looking moody, but not so good when given dialogue - it seems too staged, too deliberate.

  Once a gangster, always a gangster?
• 
  Interview With The Earth (2008)

  Review preview for Interview With The Earth

  Doesn't quite pull it off.

  Documenting how people in a Mexican Indian village cope with death.
• 
  The Interpreter (2006)

  Review preview for The Interpreter

  Treading gently between the twin stylistic giants of French and Russian cinema, Hazenov's film revels in its duality.

  Thriller sees a naive young Russian - raised in Geneva - caught up in the machinations of the Russian mob.
• 
  Jacinta (2008)

  Review preview for Jacinta

  Technically superb, the film suffers from poor pacing.

  Animation sees an old lady embroidering her destiny.
• 
  Kamchatka (2002)

  Review preview for Kamchatka

  Pineyro uses careful signposting and symbolism as part of a greater statement of this turbulent time in Argentina's history.

  A family tries to evade capture following the military coup in Argentina.
• 
  The Last Dining Table (2006)

  Review preview for The Last Dining Table

  By comprimising his film to bring the characters together, and yet failing to inject the irony or imagery of a director such as Jodowrosky, this falls short.

  Seeking fulfillment on the fringes of Seoul.
• 
  The Last Train (2003)

  Review preview for The Last Train

  Much of the impact of the film comes from cues, visual and aural, away from the action.

  All quiet on the Eastern Front.
• 
  Lawless Heart (2002)

  Review preview for Lawless Heart

  Writer-directors Neil Hunter and Tom Hunsinger... have made a film which successfully manages to dramatise the subtleties of modern relationships

  Relationship ensemble drama, as lives intersect following a death.
• 
  Letters In The Wind (2002)

  Teenage Iranian conscripts endure basic army training in the mountains.
• 
  Life Doesn't Scare Me (1999)

  Review preview for Life Doesn't Scare Me

  The experiences are achingly real and, thanks mostly to the remarkable performances, acutely touching.

  Four girls come of age in a movie about love, sex and friendship.
• 
  Little Dieter Needs To Fly (1997)

  Review preview for Little Dieter Needs To Fly

  This is one of Herzog's best documentaries, possibly because his subject matter strays close to the boundaries of fiction.

  The life of an extraordinary Vietnam war hero.
• 
  Light Of Darkness (2008)

  Review preview for Light Of Darkness

  A broadly comedic, sometimes raucous affair.

  A get-together takes an unexpected turn after a power cut.
• 
  Lucky Break (2001)

  Review preview for Lucky Break

  A good, solid British comedy.

  British cons plan an escape by staging a prison musical.
• 
  Maids (2001)

  Review preview for Maids

  The acting is superb, breathing life and vitality into the script, which still betrays its theatrical origins.

  A look at the lives of five maids in Sao Paulo.
• 
  Mansion By The Lake (2002)

  Review preview for Mansion By The Lake

  Each scene seems to be played out a bit too much: not languid, but interminable.

  Chekov transposed to the failing aristocratic classes of Sri Lanka.
• 
  McLaren Animation 2 (2007)

  Review preview for McLaren Animation 2

  The best of modern British animation.

  Showcase celebrating the best of British animation.
• 
  Me And Isaac Newton (1999)

  Review preview for Me And Isaac Newton

  Despite the strong personalities chosen, this documentary doesn't seem to possess the same spark which drives its subjects.

  A documentary exploring the inspiration which drives a remarkable group of seven scientists.